Best way to check for sludge in used Passat 1.8T

[firemachine69]

Well, usually #2 is a given after #1. I'd only purchase the 1.8T if I knew a very caring BITOG member had taken care of it!

 

[Gary Allan]

OTOH, he could open the cover ..find a horrible looking, but serviceable, mess ... and get a deep discount in the price.

 

[Audi Junkie]

My cousin bought a 100k 1.8t and it's perfectly clean. The seller had just done the TB and took a pic of the valves he showed. It was running TDT the last change, the guy heard me recommend it on AudiWorld.

 

[Ryan02SS]

With all the known problems on the B5 Passat platform I would walk away. My GF has a 03 since new 1.8T. They are good looking cars and fun to drive, but have alot of problems and are very $$ to do anything with.

Case in point her 03 Passat currently has a torn CV boot @ 40K miles. A new CV shaft will need to go in as dirt undoubtedly entered the joint. VW wants mjor $$$ $500 for the refurb CV shaft and $75 hour labor rate. I will be doing it myself tomorrow. Add insult to injury this afternoon she comes home and I notice her brake lights are stuck on! The switch on the pedal is bad. Trust me it never ends with these cars. Do a little researching at Passatworld.com before you buy!!!

 

[92saturnsl2]

I agree-- Those just weren't VW years for reliability. I purchased an 01 VW a few years back, owned it for two years and took about a 4k loss to get out of it.

Steering rack went, tensioner bearing, some interior stuff, driver window fell into door, every week this thing had a new problem. That's not to mention the half dozen recalls in that period of time, of which the brake light switch was one of them. I even had a recall for the heated seats catching fire! I wonder how many people got their asses burnt before they figured that one out?

GREAT looking and fun to drive cars though, just not worth the hassle.

 

[oilyriser]

Can you check any metal parts for varnish when you change an oil filter on this car?

 

[Ryan02SS]

Just peek inside the oil cap and you can get a general idea on how sludged up it might be. Pulling a VC would be the best way but not really an option on a car you don't own.

My GF's 03 1.8T always saw VW service before she met me and they had used bulk 5w30 according to the receipts. Looking inside her the motor thru the oil cap showed what looked to be a minor buildup of sludge. I have been running the car on M1 0W-40 for close to 8K miles and I can say I see cleaning taking place. Pieces visible with sludge on them see to be coming clean somewhat. The engine probably needs AutoRX'd but I don't know how long we will be keeping it.